The Confrontation
by danang1970
Summary: Alternate scene set during Hoodoo's 'Aftershocks', posted with permission. Hannibal confronts Face about what he's doing to Murdock.


Set in Hoodoo's amazing series which begins with 'Because It Is Bitter, And Because It Is My Heart' (fanfiction . net /s/6989728/1/Because_It_Is_Bitter_and_Because_It_Is_My_Heart).

Set during 'Aftershocks' (fanfiction . net /s/7168230/1/Aftershocks).

**Scene setting:**

Murdock has a girlfriend named Kerry. Face has become involved in their relationship, specifically in the bedroom. Hannibal does not approve, but doesn't confront any of them about it until 'Aftershocks'.

This is my version of that confrontation scene. It is fanfic for fanfic, ha, and I'm posting it here with lovely Hoodoo's permission.

* * *

><p>The second the front door closed behind BA and Murdock, Face whirled on Hannibal. He'd had it. The looks, the pointed looks <em>away<em>, the sighs and eye rolls in place of unspoken comments that were clearly only JUST held back as though that made Hannibal a saint… Face knew the old man better than he knew anyone. If Hannibal hadn't wanted them to know how he felt about this situation, then they wouldn't. He was broadcasting his disapproval loud and clear, and every single aspect of that was absolutely intentional, right down to the part where Hannibal was pointedly _not_ saying anything out loud about it. That was almost the most insulting part: The bit where Hannibal tacitly acknowledged that he had no right to say anything, but damn well made his opinion loud and clear anyway.

Face was sick of the bullshit. Murdock didn't seem to think it was worth a confrontation yet, Kerry didn't know the team well enough to read the current dynamic, and Face knew that BA would sooner let Murdock give him a tattoo than openly acknowledge, let alone discuss, the current situation. That was fine. Face was perfectly happy to handle this one on his own.

In fact, now, nostrils flaring as he glared at Hannibal with clenched fists and thin lips, he was looking forward to it.

"Okay, out with it," he snapped at his CO. "What the fuck is your problem?"

To his credit, Hannibal didn't feign ignorance. He glared right back. "Don't take that wounded tone with me, Lieutenant," he shot back. "You have no right to play the victim here."

"And you do?" Face couldn't believe what a judgemental, infuriating old _prude_ his Colonel was being. "You act like we're physically wounding you or disrespecting you by doing what we're doing. Well it's not _about_ you. It's about three consenting adults-"

"Is it?" Hannibal cut in sharply. "Is it about three consenting adults?"

Face froze. "What are you trying to say, Hannibal?"

The older man's eyes were blazing. "You know damn well what I'm saying, Face. You've never made any secret of your proclivities-"

"_Proclivities?"_

"-and I've never said anything about it before now-"

Face was flabbergasted. He was almost too shocked to be offended. Almost. "Well, fucking bravo for you! What do you want, a gold star for not spitting on me every day because you don't approve of who I sleep with? There's a reason you haven't said anything about it before now, Hannibal, and you know it. _It's none of your fucking business_."

"It damn well is my business," Hannibal nearly shouted back. "It becomes my business when it affects my team."

"How? How does this affect your team?" Face's voice grew louder too. "Have I been sloppy lately? Has Murdock? Have either of us done anything differently in the past few months when it comes to the team? No! This isn't about that. This is about _you_, and your self-righteous, judgemental, homophobic bullshit. Admit it. This has nothing to do with Murdock being a teammate – this is because Murdock's a guy."

Hannibal's cheeks flushed, but Face knew it was from anger not embarrassment. "You have no idea," he snapped at Face. "Yes, I have a problem with you and Murdock being involved this way. Yes, it's because he's a man." Face scoffed. "But not the way you implied. You really think I'm that backwards? You think if I was homophobic, it wouldn't have come up between us before now?"

Well. That answered that back-of-the-mind question about whether Hannibal had known about Face's fluid sexuality before this.

Hannibal continued, no longer shouting but since the only other sound in the room was pounding of Face's heartbeat in his own ears, he didn't need to. "My problem, Face, is that while you've made no secret of your _proclivities_ over the years, Murdock's never given any indication that this is something he'd be interested in. Tell me, Lieutenant, whose idea was this little arrangement of yours?"

Face's jaw dropped. That was why Hannibal had pounced on the issue of consent. Face felt a surge of nausea like a physical blow to the gut. "You- you think I'm raping him." Only his pride, and the refusal to give Hannibal a psychological advantage, prevented Face from falling back against the wall.

"Don't be so dramatic," said Hannibal, and he sounded so disgusted that Face seriously wanted to punch him. "I think you're taking advantage of him. You know what he's like, Face. You know how impressionable he is. He'd do anything for you."

"And you think that makes him easy to manipulate?" Now Face wasn't just offended on his own behalf. "You think he'd do anything I wanted just because I asked? Maybe you shouldn't take him on missions anymore, if you think he's only following your orders out of some misplaced sense of blind loyalty like a fucking trained dog-"

"Don't turn this around on me," Hannibal snapped, cutting off Face's indignant tirade. "You know damn well what I'm talking about."

"I'm beginning to think I don't," Face retorted. "If you really think Murdock's incapable of giving consent, should we get Kerry in here too? Tell her to stop taking advantage of the poor insentient mental patient? Or is your issue just with me, and how I've used nine years of friendship with Murdock as a ruse to trick him into gay sex?"

For the first time since this ugly conversation started, Hannibal flinched. Face pounced.

"I knew it. I knew that was the real issue here." He clenched his teeth against the sting. He could deal with his frustrating, childish hurt over Hannibal's reaction later. "Well fuck you, Hannibal. You've got issues with men sleeping with men, talk to a priest. I'm sure he'll tell you everything you want to hear about how sinful and wrong it is. Do not lay your outdated redneck bullshit on me."

"You're embarrassing yourself with this tantrum," replied Hannibal, tone infuriatingly level even as the tendons in his neck stood out from tension. "You're also avoiding the question. Whose idea was it?"

Face's cheeks flushed hot. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so furious. "Murdock's," he answered tightly, wishing he were calm enough to sound smug. "Murdock's and Kerry's."

Hannibal didn't pause. "And you did nothing to facilitate it, nothing at all. You were completely unaware until they brought it up."

Face's stomach lurched. Damn it. Fuck Hannibal Smith, fuck this whole thing. He knew Hannibal could see his answer in his hesitation and the way his gaze flitted from Hannibal's eyes, just for a moment.

"Face."

The Lieutenant swallowed. It didn't help his dry mouth or nausea. "No," he said, licking his lips as he tried to find a way to phrase it. "I told Murdock…" The impatience and disgust was rolling off Hannibal in palpable waves. It was making Face seasick. "I told him I was attracted to Kerry."

"Damn it, Face!" The frustration and disappointment in Hannibal's voice was so strong that this time, Face did let himself fall back against the wall. He got the horrible feeling that keeping a psychological edge didn't matter anymore. "Don't you see?" His Colonel sounded genuinely beseeching behind the anger. "Don't you see what I'm saying? This isn't about who's sleeping with who or my opinions about your arrangement. This is about you manipulating a situation, with your best friend and _our_ teammate, to get what you want."

"I didn't manipulate anyone." God dammit, Face's voice nearly broke. Hannibal had to have heard that.

Hannibal's look was almost pitying. "I think you do it so much that you don't even realise it anymore," he said bluntly. "I think that you're so used to getting what you want, _especially_ when it comes to sex, that you didn't even consider the boundaries you were crossing."

"They asked me," Face repeated stubbornly. "Okay, so I told Murdock I liked his girl. Maybe that was a stupid move. But I didn't do anything else. I didn't suggest or even THINK about anything like this. They worked that out themselves. They didn't have to invite me."

"Didn't they?" countered Hannibal. "Didn't _Murdock_? Face, what did you think the result of your little confession would be? Murdock would just go back to Kerry like nothing had happened, forget you said anything?"

"No, I…"

"Maybe he thought you'd start putting the moves on her. We've all seen you pursue taken women before."

Face couldn't respond to that. It was true, but it was different. He didn't know the men involved. He'd never do that to Murdock. He knew Hannibal would only see that as hypocrisy.

Hannibal continued. "Maybe he thought she'd leave him for you. After all, you're the team stud, right, Face?"

Like Hannibal himself hadn't given him that nickname. "Fuck you."

Hannibal ignored the profanity. "Maybe Murdock thought that the only way he could keep you, _both_ of you, was to come up with a solution that would make you happy."

"Murdock's an adult," Face said again. "He can make his own decisions."

"I know that," said Hannibal. "Can you honestly tell me, though, that you think he would have invited you into their bed if you hadn't told him about your interest in Kerry?"

Face clenched his jaw and didn't answer.

Hannibal's voice was softer now, but no less angry. "You're going to do whatever you want, Face. You've proved that enough times. All I'm asking is that you think about how that affects someone other than yourself."

This wasn't fair. Hannibal was acting like he was being a selfish, spoiled child. He hadn't disregarded Murdock's feelings. He'd respected his boundaries and never had full sex with Kerry, never done anything that wasn't wanted, never EVER pushed Murdock into anything man-on-man regardless of how much Face wanted it…

The conman's heart froze. He wasn't sleeping with Kerry, or Murdock. He wasn't even touching Murdock, not really. The pilot never initiated anything with him in bed and the two of them only kissed at Kerry's prompting. Hannibal was right – Murdock wasn't gay or interested in Face that way. Face was on the periphery of it all, which he'd thought was to be expected since Murdock and Kerry were the couple. He hadn't thought there was anything strange about it. Now, though, Hannibal's words planted seeds of doubt. Did either of them really want him in bed with them at all? Did _Murdock_? What was he doing there?

Hannibal sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as his Lieutenant sagged against the wall, looking lost. "I'm not saying this to hurt you, Face," he told him. "I just want you to think. What happens if this goes sour? Or Murdock decided he doesn't want you there, or Kerry wants you there too much…? There are a million things that can go wrong with this, and they _will_ affect you and Murdock and that _will_ affect the team." He stepped closer and reached a large hand out to squeeze the younger man's shoulder. "I don't want to see everything go down the drain. Not for this."

With another squeeze of Face's shoulder, Hannibal left the room.

Face didn't move for a long time. He didn't know what to do.


End file.
